It was definitely not love at first sight. Gonzalo Rovira had prepared carefully for this first date. Years of experience assured him that all would go well. But when the big moment arrived, he felt intimidated. His date was a platform named “R,” which is widely used by scientists and statisticians for data analysis. Rovira had a long storyRead More …

From yesterday until next Friday, 12 June, a workshop on the analysis of big data from Uruguay’s commercial rice production is being held in the Uruguayan city of Treinta y Tres. The purpose of the event, which brings together rice producers, millers, and researchers from Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, and Colombia, is to share and promote the use of newRead More …

This post is part of a wider initiative to bring Climate-Smart Agriculture under the spotlight, spearheaded by the CGIAR’s Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security program, led by CIAT. Rice farmer Ho Thai Benam stands outside a noisy hall, looking over at the on-going workshop keenly. Asked why the interest, she says: “I have children studying in the cityRead More …

Fifty years ago palm oil was virtually non-existent in the Colombian diet. Now over 25% of the fat in national food supplies comes from the crop, making it the single most important plant for the provision of this macronutrient in the diet. Intercropped maize and oil palm in Colombia. Photo: CIMMYT Along with Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Nigeria, ColombiaRead More …

Evaluating the phytosanitary quality of rice seeds subject to importation and exportation is one of the biggest challenges faced by plant protection departments in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Restrictions on transboundary movement of rice seeds, due to possible contamination with pathogens, make necessary the implementation of suitable laboratory tests to avoid relying exclusively on field inspections. AsRead More …

As experts have been suspecting for a while, and as many of us have certainly noticed, people’s diets around the world have become very similar. So much so that in the past 50 years the whole world has come to rely increasingly on just a few crops for most of its food supplies – including old favorites such asRead More …

Crop Scientists have discovered a gene in rice that could significantly improve its resistance to drought, according to new research. The DEEPER ROOTING 1 (DRO1) gene makes the roots of rice plants grow downwards instead of outwards, enabling them to reach water held deeper in the soil. It means that even under conditions of extreme water stress, the plantsRead More …